News

The main findings and conclusion of the report  “Implementation of the Action Plan on Improving the Situation of the Roma and Sinti Within the OSCE Region” were discussed by Roma organizations during Civil society meeting that took place on November 6 in Vienna. Around 40 representatives from national and international Roma organizations took part in the meeting. Bulgaria was represented by Deyan Kolev (Amalipe), Orhan Tahir (Civil Society in Action) and Mariana Borisova (Ternype).

Andrzej Mirga, Sinior Advisor on Roma and Sinti Issue of OSCE ODIHR presented the status report that could be found at http://www.osce.org/odihr/107406 . Mr. Mirga stressed that visible progress was achieved in comparison of the previous periods. At the same time many issues remain open and important steps are necessary. Since the mandate of Andrzej Mirga in OSCE is close to its end, he used the forum to thank all Roma NGO representatives for the good cooperation.

The main conclusions were also commented by the panelists Marian Daragiu, Deyan Kolev and Sarita Friman-Korpela. Deyan Kolev disagreed with the statement of “visible progress achieved” that is repeated in most of the Report parts. For example, the figures from the report (based on information provided by the member states) show that the amount invested per person per year in Bulgaria was 9,20 euro, the amount in Romania was similar – 13,08 euro, etc. There is no standardization in the Roma integration process, stated Kolev and raised suggestions in this direction. Marian Daragiu did critical remarks to certain information from Romania that is misinterpreted by the governmental officials.

During the discussion that followed Marian Mandache (Romani CRISS) stressed that the report is well prepared in technical term but weak as political massages. Many other participants expressed their opinions about the report, the Roma movement and the failures and challenges before Roma integration.

The role of Roma women cannot be underestimated if we want to make a real impact on the grassroots level and ensure full inclusion of Roma communities in the societies in which they live, stated the panelist during the next panel dedicated to empowerment of Roma and Sinti women. Nicoleta Bitu, prominent Roma activists from Romania was the moderator. The panelists Isabela Mihalache, Ana Rojas and Manjola Veizi discuss challenges for empowerment of Roma women and strategic options to address integration and inclusion of Roma.

Roma youth in the future will be the main stakeholders in promoting inclusion for Roma communities, was the main massage from the third session. The session was moderated by Karolina Mirga, activists from TernYpe Network. Michal Miko, Maryana Borisova and Talita Jasarevska were the panelists. They discussed the role of Roma youth in mobilizing Roma communities and how youth can take the lead in changing community and contribute to social inclusion and promoting human rights.